Mineral oil



, Patented Nov. 17, 1942 MINERAL OIL William Otto Frohring, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignmto S. M. A. Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Application June 12, 1939, Serial No. 278,759

3 Claims.

This invention relates to medicinal mineral oils of the general type usually administered for intestinal lubrication. Mineral oils of this type are classed as liquid petrolatums and have been found to possess the tendency, when taken internally, of taking up pro-vitamin A or carotene thereby removing the carotene from the food. If otherwise administered the carotene is similarly taken up by the mineral oil and since mineral oil is not absorbed by the digestive organs, the beneficial effect of the carotene is lost, the carotene being carried out of the body by the mineral oil without absorption of the carotene.

Carotene is a normal constitutent of blood and a yellow pigment. It is therefore perfectly feasible to prove, by clinical tests, that administration of mineral oil reduces the blood carotene indicating that the food carotene is not being systemically absorbed but is being removed by the mineral oil, in which the carotene is absorbed and carried away.

The purpose of this invention is to so prepare a medicinal mineral oil that it will not absorb the carotene of the body, from the blood, food or when given alone for the pro-vitamin A value in the form of a medicament. With this in view the invention consists in the saturation of medicinal mineral oils with carotene to a point where the oils cannot take up further carotene so that, upon administration the oils will not absorb the carotene from the body.

A method of preparation, found satisfactory, is as follows:

Ten grams of crystalline carotene is dissolvedin one gallon of mineral oil by warming in a water bath at a constant temperature of 60 C.

with agitation. The resultant warm solution is The amount of carotene remaining in solution difiers with the type of mineral oil used but the variation is small and predetermined solubility can be had with the same mineral oil and carotene. The solution contains approximately 0.26 grams of carotene per grams of solution. A percent of .26% of carotene has been found to saturate a certain type of mineral oil.

A suitable saturation point range has been determined to be from 220% to 300%. This is due to the variable solubility of particular lots of mineral oil, it having been found desirable to broaden the limits to approximately 0.22 to 0.30 gram of carotene per 100 grams of solution to take care of such variation.

The biological potency of a 26% saturated solution is approximately 7,000 U. S. P. units per gram, being the potency of the carotene were it not in the mineral oil solution. It is to be emphasized however, that the saturated solution will not assay biologically the 7,000 units, since the carotene which is dissolved will not be absorbed by the animal under test and therefore will not indicate a vitamin A efiect.

This is the fundamental purpose of this invention in preventing absorption of the carotene from the solution by the body and in preventing absorption of carotene by the solution whereby the mineral oil cannot take up further amounts of,- carotene from the contents of the gastrointestinal tract thus permitting absorption of the food or medicinal carotene by the patient.

Emulsions of mineral oil may also be utilized in the process.

What I claim is:

1. A composition of matter comprising, mineral oil saturated with carotene.

2. A composition of matter comprising, mineral 011 containing crystalline carotene in saturated solution.

3. A composition of matter comprising, mineral oil containing carotene in an amount of from 220% to 300% by volume.

WILLIAM O'I'IO FROHRING. 

